Hand-rake.



E. GILLETTE.

I HAND RAKE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 13,1914.

1,122,730. Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

STATE "ERNEST L T F KEARNEY; NEBRASKA.

. HAND- AKE.

To all whom, it may concern: i

.Be it knownthat I, Emvns'r GiLLnT'rE, citizen of" the United States,resid1n'g at Kearney, in the county ofBuii'alo and State of Nebraska,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hand-Rakes, ofwhich the following is a. specification.

This invention relates'to certain new and useful improvements in handrakes, and has as its primary object to provide a dcvice of thisCharacter so constructed as to fulfil the function of an ordinary mike,and

which may be further employed to sever and collect the blossoms ofplants or weeds which often grow upon a lawn, the said blossoms in agreat many instances, being so close to the surface of the lawn, that anordinary mower cannot reach them.

a The invention has as a further object to provide an improved rake ofthis char- ,acter, which will be simple in construction and so formedthat the cutting. element thereof, in the. normal position of the rakewhenin use, will be disposed parallel with thesurface to be raked.

With these and other objects in view,

invention will be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings,

and then specifically pointed out in theclaim which is attached to andforms a part of this application.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective View of myimproved rake, the handle thereof being shown as broken away. Fig. 2 isa bottom plan view of the rake especially'showing theconstruction of theteeth formed thereon and the manner in which said teeth are, providedwith cutting edges as well as the arrangement of the braces, whichconnect with the handle.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the formation of the body portion ofthe rake .as

well as the mounting. of the handle thereon, and Fig. 4: is a detailperspective view of one of v the braces employed.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings, by the samereference characters.

Referring more particularly to the drawinns, the body portion 10 of my.improved rake: is preferably ;formed from a single piece of --.:uitableresilient sheet metal of the desired l ngth, one. longitudinal margin11.

of which, is preferably flat and straight, as shown. it the innerextremity of the por- Specification of-Letters Patent. i .p e s'e 'p 291914,

appea aiedi i 13,:iiiisii1nq. etiifieoix i a a y 10, ate bddyiportionlis edefines, versely tO "e Xteii(l': laterally upon ,dne side of theport on 1'1", fand obliquely away there-' from, as shown at '12, thesaid. obliquely shown. At the'finner extremity of the portion 12, thebody portion is transversely and continuouslycurved inwardlyupon itself,as shownat 13, and the adjacent'niargin thereof,

14. the portion 14 being arranged inspaced relation upon one-side of themargin 11 of the body portion. It will be obsefYed, in thus forniing'thebody portion-100i,the rake, that when 'the'hori7 ontally disposedportion 14L thereof,'is'arranged torest flat upon the ground, the margin11' iscaused to extend abovesaid portion .14 at such an angle as tobe,under normal conditions, in alinement with thehorizontal axis of ahandle secured thereto. This'is a very important feature of myinvention, since it is in' tended, when the rake is used insev'eringblossoms WhlCh QI'OW, closely to the surface thereof, the'teeth 15 arebeveled or cut terminates iii substantially straight flathorizontallydisposed portion away to provide-cutting edges 16, the saidcutting edges being thus disposed, inthe normal operative. position ofthe 'rake, as best shown in F ig. 3 of the drawings, close to thesurfaceto-beraked.

Secured to the margin 11 of the body dle 17. The handle 17 may be formedof any suitable material. and is p'referabl portion m dway the endsthereof, is a hanslotted at itsv innerendto embrace the 1011- gritudinaledge of the margin 11, as bestillustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings, andfitting over the end of the handle'is a socket 18. As usual, in devicesof this character, the handle 17 is preferably circular. and may beformed of wood and consequentlvto properly reinforce the handle at itsinner end, the'socket 18 is preferably formed of metal, being of suchdiameter, that the inner exits tremity of the handle will fit tightlytherein. The socket 18 is grooved at its inner end as shown at 19, toreceive the adjacent edge of the margin 11 of the body portion, andextending through the ad acent extremity of the handle and through theinner end of the socket 18 to connect the handle with the margin 11 ofthebody portion,-is a bolt 20, or other fastening means. It will beobserved in thus connecting the handle 17 with the body portion 10 .ofthe rake,

' that the longitudinal axisof the handle is disposed in alinementwith-the margin 11 thereof,,, and extends away from the margin 14 of thebody portion at such an angle,-

that under normal-"'conditions, the margin 14, will bear flatly againstthe surface to be raked in the practical use ofthe device, when thehandle is held in the hands of the user in the usual manner.

Extending between the handle 17 adjacent the inner extremity thereof andthe body-portion 10 are braces 21 one of said braces being shown indetail in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The braces 21 are each,preferablyformed from suitable metal and may be connected at their outerextremities to the handle 17 in any suitable manner, as by a. bolt 22.The braces 21 diverge from the connection 22 in opposite directionsand-are secured at their-outer extremities, with the body portion 10,adjacent opposite ends thereof, as shown. lhesaid braces are thusadapted to rigidly support the body por-,

tion 10 upon the handle '17, as will be clear,

and it will therefore be noted that I provide a lvery simple and durableconstruction of ra (e. I

Attention is nowcalled to'the fact that by moving the working edge ofthe body portion of the rake over a lawn or other surface in the mannershown in Fig. .3 of the drawings, any blossoms which grow closely to thesurface of the lawn, such for instance, as the usualdandelion blossoms,

which are frequently found. upon lawns,.

will be severed upon coming in contact with i the cutting edges 16 ofthe teeth 15, to be collected within the body portion of the rake. Inthis connection, it will be seen that I provide a thoroughly efl'icientconstruction, since the margin 14, of the body portion 10 of the rakewill, under normal conditions, bear flatly against the lawn in orderthat the teeth 15 may readily pass,be

neat'h any blossoms growing therein, and which are partially embeddedwithin the grass of the lawn, to effect the severance of said blossoms.It will further be noted in providing the teeth lfii with a plurality ofinclined cutting edges 16, that, under normal conditions, the inclinedcutting edges willexert a shearing action upon the stems of any blossomscomingin contact therewith, when the rake is drawn forwardly over thelawn, to thus easily and with facility, effect, the severance ofthestems of said blossoms. b

Although my improved rake isespecially adapted for use, as abovedescribed,-still, it

is to be noted that by tilting the handle-1? toward the groundrinpractical use the teeth.

15 will be broughtinto angular relation to the ground, to bite into theground andserve'the function of an ordinary rake having teeth extendingat right angles'to the handle thereof. It will thus be seen that Iprovide a very eflicient construction of rake, which, while beingadapted to sever the stems of plantsprojecting from a surface to beraked, may also be used in the capacity of an ordinary rake, such forinstance, as in cultivation or in the raking of leaves or aw, y from theother margin,a handle having a slot formed at its inner end to receivethe edge of said obliquely arranged margin, a socket fitting over theinner end of the handle and slotted at one end to receive said margin, abolt extending through said 7 socket, the handle and said margin andconnecting the handle with the body portion, and braces each secured atone extremity, to the inner face of the curved portion of the bodyportion and extending. at their opposite extremities to connect with thehandle, the margin of the body portion opposite to that carrying thehan'dle having a series of longitudinally spaced teeth formed therein,each having inclined edges converging toward the fr ee'ends of saidteeth, the margins -of said teeth being cut away to provide cuttingedges.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ERNEST GILLETTE. [L. s.l

Viitnesses I C. L. SWARISLEY,

J. H. LEAN.

